INDIANAPOLIS — The bone-chilling breeze down Pennsylvania Street on Saturday morning pushed the 10-degree temperature even lower. It was a good day to stay in, stay warm and enjoy the holiday.
But several fans in a building across from Conseco Fieldhouse, knowing the Detroit Pistons would be coming down that street on their team bus to play in the arena, couldn't resist opening a window, cold or no cold, to display a banner that read: "Pacer fans play fair. Won't throw a chair."
Fair indeed. Saturday's game between the Pistons and the Indiana Pacers looked like just one of 82 regular-season contests, Detroit winning 98-93. The fans were fair but fervent, the players aggressive but not antagonistic, the referees strict but not restricting, everybody on their best holiday behavior. And chairs were used strictly for sitting.
That was hardly the case the last time these two teams met, on Nov. 19 on the Pistons' home court, The Palace of Auburn Hills. On that night, in the final minute of play, possibly the worst brawl in NBA history broke out. It escalated from a shoving match between Indiana's Ron Artest and Detroit's Ben Wallace to a full-blown, benches-emptying, punches-thrown confrontation between the teams. Then, it exploded into a battle between Pacers and fans, both in the stands and on the floor, a chair flying before it was over.
Suspensions were handed out by NBA Commissioner David Stern, the most severe costing Artest the rest of his season, and five players and seven fans were subsequently hit with criminal charges.
Indiana forward Jermaine O'Neal, who punched a fan on the floor, was suspended for 25 games, but arbitrator Roger Kaplan cut that to 15 games, allowing O'Neal, with the consent of a federal judge hearing an NBA lawsuit challenging Kaplan's authority, to return for Saturday's game.
There were signs of that infamous night in Saturday's afternoon game. The sellout crowd of 18,345 loudly cheered O'Neal's return and booed Wallace every time he touched the ball. There were security personnel everywhere -- Pacer officials wouldn't reveal the extent to which security was beefed up -- and the media members numbered 85, more than double the normal amount for an early regular-season game.
But those looking for the ugly or the sensational were disappointed. Opposing players embraced, bumped knuckles and wished each other a happy holiday before the opening tipoff.
